Installation & License
Install both plugins, activate your license, and know what to do when activation is refused.
Shaped Gallery installs like any other WordPress plugin, with one wrinkle: there are two of them, and they need each other. Requirements explains why; this page is the steps.
Step 1: Install the free plugin
The free build is on WordPress.org, so you can install it without leaving your site.
- Go to Plugins → Add New.
- Search for Shaped Gallery.
- Click Install Now, then Activate.
You now have a working gallery plugin at the free feature level, and a Shaped Gallery item in your admin menu.
Step 2: Install Shaped Gallery Pro
Pro isn't on WordPress.org — you download it from your ShapedPlugin account.
- Sign in at account.shapedplugin.com and download the Shaped Gallery Pro zip. Don't unzip it.
- Back on your site, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
- Choose the zip, click Install Now, then Activate.
"Activate" is greyed out?
That means WordPress can't find the free plugin. Install and activate Shaped Gallery first (Step 1), then come back. WordPress names the missing plugin right under the greyed-out link.
Both plugins stay active
You should end up with two active plugins: Shaped Gallery and Shaped Gallery Pro. That's correct, and it's how the upgrade path works with no migration. Only one of them actually runs; the other stands down quietly.
Step 3: Activate your license
Until a license is activated, galleries render on the front end for administrators only — visitors see nothing, and you get an admin notice explaining why. The editor is never gated, so you can keep building while you sort a key out.
- Go to Shaped Gallery → Settings → License Key.
- Paste the key from your account dashboard into Enter Your License Key.
- Click Activate License.
When it works, the panel switches to a details card showing License Key (masked to its last four characters), Plan — the edition and how many sites the license covers, like Pro — Unlimited Sites — and Expires.
When activation is refused
The panel reports the store's own reason rather than a generic failure. The common ones:
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The license key is invalid | The key doesn't exist on the store. | Re-copy it from your account dashboard — a stray space or a truncated paste is the usual cause. |
| Not active for this URL | The key is real, but its seats are used up on other sites. | Deactivate it on a site you no longer use, from your account dashboard, then retry. |
| License Expired | The subscription lapsed. | Click Renew License. Your galleries keep rendering in the meantime — see below. |
| Nothing happens / a network error | The store was unreachable. | Retry. A transport failure deliberately leaves your stored license alone, so a blip can't deactivate a working site. |
An expired license does not blank your site
Output treats valid and expired the same way — only automatic updates stop. A lapsed renewal is a billing state, not a reason to take a customer's live pages down.
Moving a site
Deactivating the license frees the seat: press Deactivate License on the old site before activating on the new one. If you've already lost access to the old site, deactivate it from your account dashboard instead.
Your key never reaches the browser
The admin screen only ever receives a masked version of your key. The raw value stays on the server, which is also why the Renew License button goes to your plain account page rather than a pre-filled checkout link carrying the key in the URL.
Step 4: Look around
With both plugins active you have a Shaped Gallery menu:
| Menu item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Saved Galleries | Every reusable gallery, with its shortcode. See Saved Galleries. |
| Add New Gallery | Creates a reusable gallery and opens it in the editor. |
| Dashboard | The welcome screen, with the two fastest ways to start. See Dashboard Overview. |
| Settings | License Key, Advanced Controls, Integrations and Modules. See Settings. |
| About Us | ShapedPlugin's other plugins and support links. |
Updating
Once a license is active, Pro appears in Dashboard → Updates like any other plugin and updates in place. The free plugin updates from WordPress.org as usual.
Update the free plugin and Pro together where you can — they share one engine, and a large version gap between them isn't a configuration anyone tests.